SCARLET MEETS MILA

11

"Seriously?" Willow gasps, sliding my coffee across the counter. "They made you cry?"

I nod with a slight smile. "Scarlet wasn't happy. She told me I need to be more professional." Willow arches a brow. "When I came back, she had them folding the shirts for an entire hour while I cleaned the studio."

Her expression shifts from concentrated to thoughtful. "She sounds like hard work," Willow considers. "I mean, telling you not to cry but then punishing the girls for being mean sounds a little cryptic to me."

"She's a closed book," I add, my mind swirling with thoughts. "When I posed for her test shots, she didn't change her facial expression once. I'm almost wondering if she has any emotion at all."

Willow chuckles. "She's a businesswoman. Sensitivity is a trait I'm sure she leaves for her husband."

"I think she's into girls," I confess, withholding the fact I spent over an hour googling her last night. "Apparently, she's well known to date and ditch."

Willow widens her eyes. "So you stand a chance?"

"With Scarlet?" My laugh feels almost a little too insecure. "You're kidding, right?"

"What?" Willow shrugs. "You're pretty and Hispanic. She'd have to be blind not to find you attractive."

I shake my head and huff. "She can barely tolerate sharing an elevator with me, let alone a mutual romance."

"So you like her," Willow states confidently.

"I'm attracted to her, sure," I admit, swirling the coffee in my palm while picturing the woman behind her desk. "She's beautiful. I wouldn't be shocked if she had an entire team helping her to get ready every day."

"Then shoot your shot?"

I look up at her with an arched brow. "I'm not shooting my shot with Scarlet Ramirez, Willow. Are you insane?"

"Why not?" she questions intensely. "It's not like you're some stranger off the street. You literally work on the same floor as her now."

"Not if I can't hold myself together in front of those girls," I mock. "She doesn't see me as anything other than an inconvenience, I'm telling you."

Willow shakes her head with raised brows. "Maybe you should make yourself useful then," she muses. "Roll up on her and ask for orders. A woman like that has to have at least a few boring jobs for you to do."

"So, you want me to ask her for something to do?" I try to clarify. "I technically work for Fox, though. He needs me?"

Willow lifts her palms. "You wanna get in good with the boss. You have to do some sucking up." Her smile is devious. "I don't make the rules, Mila."

****

Fox drops a portfolio of photos onto Scarlet's keyboard, stopping her from typing, "The test shots came back." She peers up at him, unimpressed by the interruption. "I knew you'd want to see them. Don't look at me like that."

"He did the same to me," Harlow follows, inviting herself into a seat opposite the desk. "Would it kill you to knock?"

"You were watching a YouTube short on climate change," the man scoffs. "I was hardly interrupting."

Scarlet clears her throat, arching a brow when the pair in front focus on her irritated expression. "You wanna go out and try again?" her bright eyes motion towards the door, eliciting a shared head shake. "Amazing. Shall we?"

Harlow sighs deeply, arranging the front of her dress while Fox reaches to peel open the portfolio. "We need to narrow these down to three," he begins. "Ember suggested the tonal pallets, but I'm swaying more towards variety"

Scarlet snatches the book and flips to the back spread of pictures, "This." she points adamantly. "Three colour variations and a push on plus size inclusivity. I need it to be multi-dimensional."

Fox and Harlow share a subtle glance. "Scar, we have ten varieties here?" he explains. "You want to discard them all and keep a single set?"

She nods, folding her arms into the desk with an air of unmovable authority. "I do. Problem?"

Harlow knits her brows as she leans in to examine the photos closer. "Wait", she gasps, looking up at Fox. "Is that Mila?"

"We were desperate", Fox explains with a chuckle. "She killed it though. Even little Miss Sunshine over here was invested."

Scarlet cocks a brow. "Excuse me?"

"Girl, I saw you studying her from behind," Fox teases. "You even had her posing for your own imaginary shoot."

"I needed to see it from another angle, Fox." She snarls "Lingerie shoots differently than garments. I'm no more impressed than with her ability to show up on time."

Fox laughs and shakes his head. "You seemed pretty impressed to me", he continues. "Eyes don't lie, mama."

Scarlet rolls her eyes and stands from the chair to pace the large window behind her. "I want the set pushed for campaign." Harlow and Fox share another look at the blatant change of topic. "The rest can be benched for the seasonal collection."

"Yes, ma'am." Fox smiles, lifting from his chair to take back the portfolio. "I'm on it," he confirms, leaving the room while Harlow decides to get comfy.

"She's good." Harlow points out, examining the woman's body language as she moves to sit, "I'm surprised you gave her a shot"

"Like Fox said, we were desperate", Scarlet states, scooping up a document. "She filled the gap."

Harlow sighs with a smile. "So, can I file her contract?" she asks confidently. "Or do you need some more time?"

Scarlet laughs, looking up at the woman in front with a stern stare. "In no way has she proven herself worthy to be here" Her tone is blunt, uninviting and sharp. "I'm not a charity."

"Well, we need to cut her a cheque at some point." Harlow nudges. "If she's not on the books, Maria will refuse my pay request."

The green eyes lock onto Harlow like a target. "When she can walk this floor as a professional, I will pay her as one." Scarlet explains, "Until then, Maria has the right to refuse all she wants."

Harlow nods. "Understood," She knows not to push the woman further, "I'll wait for your verdict."